Nice Insight is in conversation with Dago Caceres, Marketing Director, and Gary Lord, Global Strategic Marketing Director at The Dow Chemical Company, to discuss the drivers of the merger between Dow and Dow Corning, and the positive impact the move will have on Dow’s pharma customers.
In December 2015, The Dow Chemical Company announced that it would restructure the ownership of Dow Corning, which has shared ownership with Corning for more than seven decades. Dow became the 100% owner of Dow Corning on June 1, 2016, and has since been leveraging the synergies of its complementary silicone technology.
The Drive to Be Innovative
“One of the key drivers for the merger of Dow and Dow Corning was to expand our capability to develop broader, innovative solutions that help our customers differentiate themselves in the marketplace,” Gary Lord says. As the two companies were previously so embedded, incorporation of Dow Corning’s portfolio has been relatively seamless.
While Dow has traditionally been strong in Oral Solid Dosage Forms (OSDF), primarily tablets and capsules, Dow Corning has placed a higher emphasis on transdermal, topical and dermatological applications. “The combination of the two portfolios creates a synergistic, broader and complementary offering that expands the applicability for our current and future customers,” states Dago Caceres.
“Here we see multiple angles to improve our position. For instance, we can explore synergistic combinations or blends of known and approved chemistries coming from both heritage companies. We can also explore the same synergies in new market segments or applications,” Gary Lord explains further. In addition to this, Gary notes, “our silicones portfolio can now leverage Dow’s world-class core R&D capabilities to accelerate innovation.”
In certain regions, Dow has a strong presence that can be leveraged to introduce our expanded portfolio.
Broader Solutions
So what can Dow’s pharma customers expect now that Dow Corning is fully integrated into Dow Chemical? According to Dago Caceres, an increased emphasis and broader solutions. “We remain fully committed to the pharmaceutical industry and will leverage best practices from both companies to improve our service to customers. At the same time we will continue to focus on quality, reliability, regulatory compliance and innovation,” Dago asserts.
The goal is to elevate the integrated company across the board. Gary Lord confirms the strategy has been to “leverage Dow’s manufacturing excellence processes and tools across the silicone product line,” and thus create advanced opportunities for the company’s customers.
The Power of Two
With a much broader portfolio of solutions, Dow will be able to have deeper and broader conversations with customers who view the company as a strategic partner. To this effect, Dow has married technology and application expertise. Dago Caceres observes, “We are now combining the deep polymer understanding that the heritage Dow Corning team has on silicones and transdermal drug delivery with the knowledge that Dow Pharma Solutions has on cellulose and oral solid dosage forms. The result is our ability to now innovate and design new solutions for well-known unmet needs in this particular area. We call this synergy the ‘Power of Two’!”
Prioritizing Growth
Opportunities As of yet, the biggest challenge moving forward has been prioritizing the multiple growth opportunities created by the merger. “The combination of these versatile technologies creates a vast and wide array of opportunities to serve our customers and the pharmaceutical industry. We systematically review them,” notes Lord, resourcing those that “have a sustainable impact for our customers, us and, of course, patients and consumers.”
With the added growth has come the potential for geographic expansion. “In certain regions, Dow has a strong presence that can be leveraged to introduce our expanded portfolio. Equally important is the depth of relationships forged by Dow Corning with customers, which will allow us to broaden, deepen, solidify and accelerate our business relationships with them,” Gary Lord says.